The "Cannes" festival kicks off tonight, and its surprise is "Zahra" Scorsese
Large posters of Catherine Deneuve and Louis XV at the opening and the return of Tunisian cinema after an absence
The Cannes Film Festival extends the red carpet for its seventy-sixth edition, which begins on Tuesday, with the participation of a constellation of stars, including Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman, with 21 films competing for the Palme d'Or, over possible demand protests.
Who will succeed Swede Robin Aslund, winner of the Palme d'Or last year for his film "Triangle of Sadness" and chairman of the jury for this year's edition of the festival? While waiting for the results to be announced, the final touches are being put on La Croisette Avenue to receive about 35,000 participants in the festival.
On Sunday, in front of the Palace of Festivals in Cannes, a 25-meter-long and 11-meter wide banner was placed showing the star Catherine Deneuve, which is the official poster for the seventy-sixth edition of the event. This black and white photo was taken of the famous French actress in 1968 during the filming of Alain Cavallier's "La Chamade".
In an embodiment of the festival's legacy, Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni, will host the opening ceremony on Tuesday and the closing on May 27.
The famous 60-meter red carpet will be placed on the stairs of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on Tuesday. In an effort to reduce the environmental impact, the organizers have "halved the frequency of changing the carpet" since 2021, with the aim of saving "nearly 1,400 kilograms of materials."
Among the stars participating in the competition for the Palme d'Or are names familiar with the event, such as the 86-year-old Briton Ken Loach, winner of the festival award twice (2006 and 2016), German Wim Wenders, winner of the festival award in 1984 with Paris Texas, and Italian Nani Moretti.
From the Tunisian film "Banat Intimacy" participating in the festival (film file)
All the arrangements taking place at the Cannes Festival , from preparing the palace, halls, and red carpet brushes , to the preparations for receiving thousands of people who will participate in the largest and most prominent cinematic, artistic and cultural event in the world, will be completed within a few days. Whoever manages to come to the city two days before the start of the event will not discover any evidence of a cinematic event .in this size and effect. Suddenly, in a few hours, Cannes turns from a coastal town into a cosmopolitan village, where people from five continents go. For a moment, the walls of the château are clad with large posters bearing this year's black-and-white portrait of French actress Catherine Deneuve during her filming of "La Chamade" by Alain Cavallier. The festival says about its selection of Deneuve, the most famous French star, that she has always been the embodiment of cinema, as she remained true to her convictions and practiced swimming against the tide, and was an inspiration for major cinemas from Jacques Domy to Francois Truffaut, passing by Luis Buñuel.
From "Asteroid City" by Wes Anderson (film file)
With the start of the festival, the city's population goes from 75,000 to twice that number. Men and women from the east to the west of the globe, we see them dragging their bags behind them to infer their places of residence, where they will spend two weeks of time. The noise of the wheels of suitcases sweeps the streets and alleys of the city, especially in the first two days, when most people working in the field of cinema arrive, whether in media or industry. Arriving early in Cannes is one of the necessary things, as there are a number of procedures that must be taken, such as receiving housing, a ticket, and psychological and physical preparation to face a number of films and meetings in a daily marathon that starts in the morning and continues after midnight. As the "Kan" train starts off, it becomes difficult to catch up with its fast pace, unless we are among its first passengers. from
Cinema group
Cannes participants work in production, directing, acting, and distribution, or in journalism, media, public relations, and talent support, in short, in everything related to the film industry. The festival is the date that it is “shameful” to be absent from, for everyone who considers himself a member of the cinema family. And the wedding does not begin without the arrival of the "interlopers" who hover around what is considered the most delicious cinematic table in the world. These people are not interested in watching, as much as they are attracted to eavesdropping on the “group” of cinema, especially the stars, and circulating their news in cafes and on the sidewalks. There is a place designated for them in front of the red carpet that celebrities from all over the world walk on every night, in preparation for the official screenings of the participating films. This corner has been a tradition for years.
From the movie "Falling Leaves" (film file)
For 12 days, everyone in Cannes, guests, passers-by and residents, lives to the rhythm of films and endless discussions about new trends in cinema. It is a mistake to think that the festival is only about films, as there are many other things as well, from deals concluded on yachts to parties that take place in the upper floors of the luxury hotels that adorn the Boulevard of the legendary "Croisette". Entertainment, tourism, business, passion for cinema and dreams, all of this meets in one place and one time. The searcher for art, culture, and big ideas that seek to change the world will find what he is looking for, as well as those who want to interact with the Hollywood “glamor” and run from evening to evening until the early hours of dawn. This is Cannes: a little bit of everything, not to disappoint anyone.
This evening, the festival opens its seventy-sixth session (May 16-27) with the film "Jeanne de Barry" by French director Maywan. A film shown out of competition that takes us back to eighteenth-century France to tell the story of a girl from the people who takes the status of nobility, before she gets to know King Louis XV, and a romantic relationship develops between them. The director assumes the embodiment of the role of Du Barry, while the role of the king was entrusted to Johnny Depp. Of 21 films, it combines the latest works of dedicated names with the experiences of young filmmakers
21films
The competition consists of 21 films, and it brings together the latest works of dedicated names and the experiences of young filmmakers. The most anticipated film in the competition is the one that will be presented by the great Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, entitled "On Dry Grass". The scene is once again the place dearest to the director's heart: Anatolia. Gillan, who won the “Front” for his movie “Winter Slumber” in 2014, is supposed to maintain his calm and slow narrative style to present his philosophical and contemplative view of existence, knowing that his hero is a young teacher who seeks to persevere and not fall into pessimism.
From the film by director Ken Loach (Film File)
After 12 years of absence from Cannes, Finn Aki Kaurismaki returns to the competition of the festival in which he previously screened a number of his films. Falling Leaves is his new title, and it is, as always, a mixture of realism and tragedy. Korismaki has a different style of dealing with his characters, whom he tortures and protects from the harshness of the world at the same time. In an interview with him dating back to 1990, he says: "I always decide to end my films with a sad ending, then I look at the characters and feel pity for them, then I change them to a happy ending at the last minute."
Another great director returns to the Cannes competition after he won the Palme d'Or in 1984 for "Paris Texas". He is Wim Wanders, and his new, "Perfect Days", he filmed in Tokyo, and it is about a Japanese man who works in public baths, so we see Life from his perspective Wanders also participates in the "Special Shows" section with a documentary about the German contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer.
From America comes the eccentric director Wes Anderson. His film "Asteroid City" (competition), as usual, uses a group of famous actors, to take us this time to the American desert in the fifties of the last century, where there is an observatory to monitor cosmic events. Compatriot Todd Haynes also brings together his favorite actress, Julianne Moore, with Natalie Portman in "May December" (competition), about an actress trying to dig into the past of a married couple.
3italian films
Italian cinema is present strongly, as it participates in the competition with three films, two of which bear the signature of two great names: Marco Bellocchio and Nani Moretti. The first brings us “Rabito”, a historical drama based on the story of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy who is stolen from his family to force him to convert to Christianity. As for the second, Moretti, he returns with “Sun of the Future”, about a filmmaker who encounters problems as he tries to make a film that contradicts the norm.
The head of the jury, the Swedish director Robin Ostlund, said in an interview that he hopes to be the first filmmaker to win three “golden palms.” Does this mean that he will refrain from giving a new “palm” to the British Ken Loach if he deserves it? Flutch, winner of "Two Palms" in "Cannes" like Ostlund, presents a new film entitled "The Old Oak", about Syrian immigrants who settle in a town located in the north-east of England after its residents emigrated due to the lack of job opportunities. Loach had decided to retire a while ago, but the events and the need to comment on them bring back the most famous leftist in European cinema to the screen.
Johnny Depp Opens Cannes Film Festival With "Jean de Paris"
Two highly anticipated films are competing for the Palme d'Or: "Area of Interest" by the British Jonathan Glazer and "Youth (Spring)" by the Chinese Wang Bing. Two cinematic works that have already proven their worth. Glazer recounts an affair between a Nazi officer and the wife of a concentration camp prisoner. As for Peng, he puts his camera in a textile factory, 50 km from Shanghai.
Seven female cinematographers participate this year in the competition, which is a record for women's attendance. One of them is the Tunisian Kawthar Ben Hania, who presents her film “Banat Intimacy”, which brings Tunisian cinema back to the “Cannes” competition, after it was absent from it since 1952.
Finally, the most prominent event of this year remains the return of Martin Scorsese to the bosom of "Cannes", after an absence of 37 years. "Moonflower Killers" is his highly anticipated film by festival-goers, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and tickets sold out seconds after it was shown.
Source : websites